Review: Rye on Rye on Rye

I had the Boulevard Brewing Company’s Rye on Rye on Rye at Seattle’s inestimable Burgundian bar in Tangletown (one of the Bottleworks and Brouwer’s Cafe mini-chain of excellent beer bars).

Rye beers aren’t usually my favorite style of beer, they can be too funky, too dark and not very drinkable.

Rye on Rye on Rye wasn’t far off from that verdict. It had the unusual dark funk of rye. But unlike many of its less boozy contemporaries, it was almost too easy to drink.

The aroma is packed with rye and dark grains, but the taste is like a fine rye whiskey and enjoyable to sip.

The brewery describes the beer as “a rich, tawny rye ale … aged in first-use rye whiskey barrels then transferred to yet another set of first-use rye whiskey barrels for a second aging, effectively resulting in “Rye on Rye on Rye.””

The vanilla, oak and whiskey are the most obvious flavors and blend nicely together. It was smooth on the tongue. The aroma was surprisingly acerbic however.

It was served in a tulip glass, ringed with white head and lacing atop an “espresso” colored body.

Ultimately, it was a great beer, more drinkable than other beers I’ve had in the style, and excellent in body. If you get a chance to drink this, even just a tulip or taster, experiment.

Just don’t be alarmed if it’s still the funky cool medina you’ve come to expect from rye beers. 85/100